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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28165458">Lightning Heart/For the Cursed</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/christchex/pseuds/christchex'>christchex</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, F/M, Playlist, Traditional Art, podfic to be added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 18:54:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,397</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28165458</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/christchex/pseuds/christchex</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Playlist for Suzteel's Knight!Liz Ortecho au.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Max Evans/Liz Ortecho</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Roswell New Mexico Big Bang 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Lightning Heart/For the Cursed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">


        <li>
            Inspired by

            <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28132029">Heart of Lightning: A Roswellian Tale</a> by <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/suzteel/pseuds/suzteel">suzteel</a>.
        </li>

    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I would like to thank Suzteel for writing such a wonderful fic! I've been obsessed with the idea since that moodboard floated around tumblr between s1 and s2.</p><p>This is split into two playlists: one which scores the fic and one that is for our cursed. A podfic will be added, complete with the music in corresponding scenes, once I figure out what is wrong with my microphone.</p><p>Please go and read this amazing fic!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <iframe></iframe>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Lightning Heart</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Threads: I. Prelude- <strong>Paul Lansky, Sō Percussions</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Rosa wakes; Rosa remembers</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A name. What is her name? What was she before she was in this place? She doesn't know. She doesn’t know how to answer when the voice whispers around her, lilting and songlike. “What’s your name?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>She remembers. “Rosa. My name is Rosa.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The “Fly-By-Night” (Hammered Dulcimer Version)-<strong> Takatsugu Muramatsu</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liz explores the dragon cave; Liz flees</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The air crackles again, and her hair stands on end. The dragon spreads its wings in preparation for another blow, their iridescent webbing glowing that strange mixture of reds and blues, a match for the faint glow she just now notices emanating from the box in her hand. A match—Liz sprints toward the cave’s tunnel before the thought can complete in her mind. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Migrants- <strong>Federico Albanese</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Liz wakes; Max’s curse</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Her heart skips. Another memory, this one of a bright summer day, when a young prince took her out to the desert to practice sparring in the rocky terrain, and ended the day asking for permission to court her. She felt then as she did now. Exhilarated. Terrified. She’d faced many dangers as a knight, both in search of Ophiuchus and in the service to the throne—first for King Evans, then for Max. She’d learned over the years how to confront stark terror in the face of almost certain death against monsters and overwhelming odds, learned to be unflinching in the face of them. But the way Max Evans made her feel eclipsed them all. Her bravery abandoned her in the face of it. She felt posed at the edge of a cliff, and the urge to jump frightened her in a way no monster or army could ever could. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leaving the Ground-<strong> Radical Face</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>A piece of her goes with him; meetings on the road</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She dresses and begins to carefully inspect her armor for damages, checking for weaknesses, feeling as if she’ll need its protection more than ever in the coming days. In more ways than one.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Max halts the horses at the sight of them, quickly dismounting as they approach. The pair barely slow as they overtake them, and Isobel launches herself from her saddle into Max’s waiting arms, nearly toppling the both of them. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re alive! You’re alive! I knew you were alive.” She’s smiling through tears, clutching him tightly, as if he might disappear again the moment she let go. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sowing the Summer Barley- <strong>Francis Wellis</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Camp; Conversations</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With the rest of the retinue preparing the camp for the evening, and Isobel and Michael filling Max in on what he missed in the months since he had gone missing, Liz finds herself left to her own devices until after the evening meal when Max and Maria are set to confer again. Maria offered to share her tent for the night, which Liz readily accepted, having spent the last several nights with only a bedroll—and Max within easy sight. Sleep had not come easy. Liz found herself fearing his absence when she awoke, while also unsettled by his presence, too aware of his nearness after so long parted. They haven’t shared any time alone since before Rosa, but there is a familiar ease that still exists between them. They had always worked well together, and as they made their way across the kingdom even the tension between them had a familiarity to it, as if it too had always existed. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Max asks Maria to explain to Isobel and Michael what she knows about the symbol and the Alighting. “Not much,” she confesses. “It’s a ritual...or an event, something that hasn’t happened in centuries. It’s about power. About the nature of magic and its connection to the world, to us. To those of us with magic, and those without. Everything in balance. From what I’ve read, whatever it is, it’s meant to restore that balance. And I believe Ophiuchus is trying to hasten it’s coming. But the Alighting, it’s dangerous. The energy required is immense. Not only can it kill him, and possibly others, but it can upset the balance of magic in the world, bringing chaos.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Silent Flight, Sleeping Dawn- <strong>MONO</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Fighting over plans; Worry over Maria &amp; Isobel</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I have an idea. Max’s memories are jumbled because of the spell, but,” Maria looks steadily and directly at Isobel, “if he had help, we might be able to help him organize them.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Isobel is already shaking her head. “No. No, you really expect me to go in there and make sense of whatever mess he left behi—how the hell do you even know about that?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>// </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As Maria explained it, time moves differently within the mind. Minutes can stretch like hours, and there is danger in staying too long within the mindscape. It is easy to get lost, lose track of one’s self. Sometimes the extra time spent there provided Maria clarity, but it also could only further confuse or complicate the things Maria saw. It rarely ever helped when it came to Rosa and Ophiuchus. When it came to Rosa, Maria’s visions and prophecies came only by chance—or perhaps fate. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nagoya Marimbas -  <strong>Steve Reich, Sean Connors, Peter Martin</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Planning; the Noah problem</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The stunned disbelief quickly turns to anger, with tempers flaring—Michael’s loud and demonstrative, Max seemingly more controlled, but his anger darker, deadlier. Liz has never seen him so furious before. It both unnerves her and leaves a flush beneath her skin, urging her to fight, flee and soothe all at the same time. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>// </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Would killing Noah break Rosa’s curse?” asks Max. The hard edge is back in his voice, the one that assures Liz he won’t stop until Noah sees justice. Maria considers carefully before shaking her head. “I don’t know. I could never figure out how he’s been sustaining her life force. It’s possible killing him will have no effect.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“But you don’t believe that.” Apparently Max can read Maria also as well as Liz can. They share a long look, before Maria sighs with another shake of her head.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Doublespeak- <strong>Nico Muhly, eighth blackbird</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Truths revealed; Liz storms the castle; the final fight</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Something nags at her about his mannerism, but she chooses to ignore it, figuring it had nothing to do with her. Maria is waiting and neither of them have much time to spare today. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The map Maria drew is crude, made all the more so by Kyle’s hasty scribbling, but she finds her bearings, it’s easy enough to follow. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She knows she’s close when she hears voices up ahead, and she quickly douses her torch to prevent being seen. She creeps forward in the darkness, soon able to distinguish individual voices. When she hears Max’s deep rumble, she’s hit with a wave of relief. She’s not too late. He’s still alive. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Isobel is too, shrill feminine voice distinctive from the men. “So you used me. Lied to me. For what? Power?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“She didn’t understand!” He moves back into Liz’s line of sight as he stalks toward Isobel. “But she will. She will. Our fates are intertwined, she and I. Eventually she will see.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>With him turned away from her, Liz seizes her opportunity. She charges into the room, one hand letting loose a puff of pollen, blinding Noah as he turns toward her in surprise, and the other hand runs Noah through with her sword. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An Ending, A Beginning- <strong>Dustin O’Halloran </strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>An ending</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Beyond them, Isobel is beginning to stir, and Jesse’s forces still battle with their own in the castle above, but for just a moment more, she holds them both close to her, wanting to hear their breaths in her ear, feel the beating of their hearts against her chest as she breathes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She breathes.  </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>//</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The fog is gone. Or at least the oppressive blanket of deep gray is gone, leaving behind only the chromatic mist inherent to this place. These halls are familiar to her now. She’d learned to walk them in the endless sleep of her past life, traversing them over and over and over again until navigating them was as natural as breathing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>For the Cursed</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Where is My Mind? - <strong>Maxence Cyrin</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Special Death - <strong>Mirah</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Lightning Strike (What if the Storm Ends?) - <strong>Snow Patrol</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>King and Lionheart- <strong>Of Monsters and Men</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Running Up That Hill - <strong>Meg Myers</strong></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Big Dark Love - <strong>Murder By Death</strong></span>
</p><p> </p>
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